Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Where does ANT fit with Bluetooth low energy (BT-LE)?
A: ANT is thrilled at the prospect of an ultra-low power, low cost wireless portal into cell phones (via an extension to Bluetooth called “low energy”) becoming available at some point in the future. Those wishing to deploy products now and in the next couple of years will be pleased to know that ANT and the ANT+ Interoperable Ecosystem are available now and are proven with millions of installed nodes. Once BT-LE does become available, ANT will provide a seamless, cost effective bridge solution for use in products like watches to enable forward compatibility with the millions of ANT+ devices already in the field at that time. Applications will then be able to take advantage of the best of ANT and ANT+ based products as well as connecting to next generation Bluetooth enabled devices.
A: Yes. ANT and ANT+ are provided by the Wireless division of Dynastream Innovations which, in Dec of 2006, became a wholly owned subsidiary of Garmin International. Garmin is a long time user of ANT across many of its product lines. Garmin is committed to keeping ANT and ANT+ publicly available and is a member of the ANT+ Alliance. The ANT+ Alliance is 98 members strong (as of November 2008) and growing rapidly. ANT chips and modules are sold through distribution partners.
Q: Does ANT have a 2nd source?
A: ANT is an ultra-low power wireless protocol which runs on the combination of a base band processor (BBP) and radio chip to provide a wireless node. Like many software/hardware integrated technologies, ANT is written (ported) to run on a particular hardware platform. Currently, ANT runs on certain 8051 and MSP430 based BBPs combined with certain Nordic Semiconductor nRF24xx series radios. We also have an integrated, single chip BBP + radio called the nRF24AP1 available from Nordic. We will be expanding these microcontroller and radio chip options in the near future. Stay tuned for updates.
Q: Who owns Dynastream and ANT Wireless?
A: Dynastream Innovations Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Garmin and ANT Wireless is a division of Dynastream. While Garmin is the parent company of Dynastream, it is also an independent customer of ANT Wireless and buys ANT-based chips from Nordic.
A: Yes, anyone with genuine interest in building ANT+ products, advancing the ecosystem and growing the market is welcome to join.
Q: Do lead members in ANT+ get advance info?
Please see Technology/Technical Q&A for more detailed ANT responses.